Category Archives: General

Theresa Mays is not your average financial aid administrator. She has had as much personal involvement in education and social services as she has had investing her entire career serving students seeking financial aid for education.

Theresa received her B.A degree from Auburn University with minor in Business Administration. She proudly holds a double Master’s degree from Troy University in Post-secondary Education with a concentration in Psychology, and Public Administration with an emphasis on Adult Education. It’s the wisdom gained from her academic tutelage coupled with the insight acquired overcoming obstacles while growing up in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama that has propelled Theresa Mays from a Financial Aid Counselor to her current role as Director of Financial Aid for the Jefferson State Community College with a consortium of locations.

Acknowledging the importance of balance and giving back, Theresa has shared her gifts with the Birmingham community through serving organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Birmingham Reads, Wounded Warriors Project, Ronald McDonald House, and the Junior Board of Urban Ministry. She’s also an active member of Alabama Veteran Affairs Association, Western Association of Veteran Education Specialist, Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, where she currently serves on the Executive Board as Alabama President and the Alabama Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators where she currently serves as your 2017-2018 AASFAA President and has served as Chair of both the Diversity and Special Project Committees

In her spare time, Theresa Mays enjoys event planning, singing and traveling to broaden her appreciation of the people she is fortunate enough to serve each day.

Stephanie Miller- AASFAA President Elect

Stephanie Miller has been in financial aid for over 17 years. Stephanie works with Jacksonville State University in AL, Technical College of the LowCountry in SC, and Pacific School of Religion in CA as the Campus Director for FA Solutions, LLC.
Stephanie is currently serving AASFAA as your President Elect and 50th Anniversary Conference Chair, so if you want to volunteer or run for office…contact Stephanie😊

In the past, she has served AASFAA as Past President, President, President Elect, Secretary, and numerous committee chair positions.Stephanie has served on the SASFAA Board as Alabama’s State President, part of the conference committee and the New Aid Officer Workshop.

Stephanie has earned 14 NASFAA Credentials and has presented as the Alabama Banner Users Group (ALBUG), SASFAA Conference, and Ellucian Banner Conferences throughout the years.

Stephanie is married without children unless you count all of those kids at church, students at work, and those that call her Aunt Steph (even though she only has 3 nephews).
Stephanie knows and understands that we are all in this together. So like this bio, let’s be a little bit different and decide to have a whole lot of fun in financial aid.

Shauna James- Vice President

Shauna is the Director of Financial Aid at the University of North Alabama (UNA) in Florence, Alabama. Prior to her arrival at UNA in 2015, she was the Director of Financial Aid at Northwest-Shoals Community College and Scholarship Manager at UNA. She began her career in financial aid over 10 years ago and has served in various roles within the financial aid office.

Shauna is the current Vice President of AASFAA and will serve on the 2019 SASFAA Conference Committee. She earned her BBA in Finance and her MBA from the University of North Alabama. She is married to Brian James and enjoys spending her free time with Brian and their two children, Garrett (9) and Audrey (4). They enjoy camping, exploring the great outdoors, and watching their children play sports.

Kelly D’eath- Past President

Kelly D’Eath has worked in higher education for 28 years. Given the majority of her career has been in financial aid, the networking and professional development opportunities offered by the Alabama Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (AASFAA) has been vital. Ms. D’Eath currently serves as the AASFAA Past President. Ms. D’Eath has been recognized as an outstanding administrator by the Alabama Community College System in 2000, 2005, and 2013.

For the past 12 years, Ms. D’Eath has served as the Director of Financial Aid, WIOA, TRA, and VA at Gadsden State Community College and is honored to be a Gadsden State alumna. She received her bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and management from Jacksonville State University and her masters from the University of Alabama. She is also a graduate of the Alabama Community College Leadership Academy conducted by the University of Alabama. She is married to the love of her life and has two wonderful children.

Nikki Bradbury- Secretary

Nikki Bradbury is a ten-year member of AASFAA, the current Executive Board Secretary, Chair of the Long-Range Planning and Governance Committee and someone who values the benefits of being a part of such a cherished organization in our industry. Nikki’s primary interest and appreciation for AASFAA is to continue personal and professional growth while contributing by way of consistent and continued service to the Association that has continuously offered opportunities and resources to promote the development of Financial Aid Administrators within the state of Alabama.

Currently, Nikki is the Associate Director of the Student Aid Office at the University of Montevallo where she began working as a Federal Work Study student worker in 2002. After holding various positions in the Student Aid Office, Nikki felt honored to utilize her experience further through her current leadership roles. It is Nikki’s hope that she will continue to have opportunities to join alongside her peers that serve as mentors and seasoned administrators within AASFAA.

Lane Smith- Treasurer

Lane Smith was born in raised in Tennessee and attended Ouachita Baptist University where he earned a B.S. in Biology in 1997. After attending the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for graduate school, he returned to Ouachita in 2000 to put his M.S. Ed in Higher Education Administration to good use as the Director of Annual Giving. In 2003 he assumed the role of Director of Financial Aid and in 2007 created Ouachita’s first Office of Student Financial Services. Later in 2007, Lane made the move to Samford University to be its Director of Financial Aid and became a member of AASFAA.

In 2013, he became Samford’s first Director of Student Financial Services and remains in that role today. Lane has served on several committees for AASFAA and SASFAA and most recently has served as Treasurer-Elect and Treasurer for AASFAA. He is the proud father of four great children and husband to his wonderful wife, Kate.

Dr. Jim Theeuwes- Treasurer Elect

It is a great honor to serve as Treasurer Elect for AASFAA. I have served AASFAA previously as budget chairmen for the past three years. My prior experience includes serving PASFAA (Pennsylvania) as a member of the President’s council, and on numerous committees and participated in various training functions. I have served on several committees for NASFAA. I have worked in higher education for over 25 years. Positions included: Assistant Professor of Business, Director of Admissions, Director of Student Financial Services and Director of Financial Aid.

Status

Alabama Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (AASFAA) has made a tremendous impact in the lives of financial aid administrators by providing training and resources to better serve our students for the past 50 years. As we prepare for the 50th Spring Conference, AASFAA members share their personal memories of AASFAA.

“I will never forget my first annual Spring Conference back in 2008. Having so many individuals that I now know, love and look up to so well greet and welcome me into the Association helped me to see that, although Student Financial Aid is an extremely stressful industry and career, the people who carry the responsibilities are truly the most dedicated, hardworking and compassionate folks I know. For the last 10 years, I have grown and developed as a Student Financial Aid Professional because of all these individuals have invested in me. I am so grateful for the recent opportunity to begin giving back and offering the same investment to others.

The annual presentation of the Overaward has also always been a fun experience and one I hope continues for all the years of AASFAA! (Thankfully I have avoided being a recipient so far!!)“Nikki BradburyAssociate DirectorUniversity of Montevallo

“In the 37 years since I attended my first AASFAA meeting, there have been innumerable changes. People and programs have come and gone, regulations have changed, technology allows us to do in a few hours what used to take weeks, and on and on. Change is constant, but one thing has not changed. In my opinion, the people who work in financial aid are the most dedicated, hard-working professionals in higher education. They go to extraordinary lengths to make sure that their students receive the assistance they need to succeed in college and in life. For the last 50 years, the members of AASFAA have played a huge role in training me to do my job well, and for that I will be forever grateful.

I remember Larry Ridgeway (then the Director of Financial Aid at Auburn) telling me back in 1981 that I needed to join AASFAA and begin to build my network of financial aid professionals. I attended my first conference in April that year, which was held at the state park in Guntersville. The AASFAA President that year was Gertrude Clark, who was at that time the Director of Financial Aid at Birmingham Southern. She and Jerry Bird (Director of Financial Aid at UAB) seemed “larger than life” to me, and I wondered then if I would ever attain the professional stature of those two great financial aid leaders. I have been a member of AASFAA ever since. Dr. Bill Wall, Don Rainer, Jim Gibson, Linda Knowles, Larry Smith, Harvey Watt, Buddy Jackson, Joan Waters, Dot Wilkinson, and many others also demonstrated to me what it means to be a financial aid professional, and I have tried to emulate their example for others.

Through the years, I have received far more from my association with AASFAA than I have contributed. I have relied on my AASFAA friends for mentoring, advice, wisdom, expertise, and encouragement many times. I hope I have offered the same things to my colleagues when they have needed them.

I have missed a few AASFAA meetings over the years, but not many. I have made it a priority to attend my state meeting. At times, I might have been better served by attending SASFAA or NASFAA (and I have attended those meetings, just not every year), but AASFAA is family to me. I prefer to be with my people when I have to choose which one meeting I can attend due to funding constraints
AASFAA gives us all the opportunity to learn leadership skills when we “put ourselves out there” and run for elected office. I learned a lot about leadership while I served, and I strongly encourage the membership to consider how they might give back to AASFAA. There are many ways to do this. Serve on a committee, run for office, or work on a special project. It takes all of us to make AASFAA successful, and every contribution is important. AASFAA will always need new people to step up–it does not require too much of your time, and the benefits of your service are immeasurable!“Henry L. “Chip” Quisenberry, Jr., Ed.D.Director, Financial AidEnterprise State Community College

“I remember my first AASFAA conference back in 2002 as a brand new aid officer. It was at the Mountain Brook Inn. The first time I had ever been to Birmingham alone, the first time I had ever stayed in a hotel alone and my first conference. I knew no one and was scared to death. I remember the first person I met was Tommy Dismukes at the President’s reception, then I met Joel Paris, Sandra Davis and Ben Baker in the elevator going up to our rooms after the reception. They made me feel welcomed to the association and that night I made lifelong friends and continue each year to make new ones. I contribute my success as a financial aid officer to AASFAA and everyone that I have met and became friends with over the years. Without all of you, I would have never made it this far. AASFAA is a great organization and the people in it are amazing. As David Bartnicki says “The only constant in financial aid is change”. Without AASFAA there is no way I could have ever kept up with all the rules and regulations we have to follow. I want to say thank you to all of you that have been there for me over the past 16 years.“

“I am pretty sure we are the only marriage that has come from AASFAA…met my now husband technically at SASFAA, but didn’t spend any time together until my first AASFAA spring conference 2002 at the beach. That was in the “good old days” with lots of lenders, and we have fond memories of the Flora-bama with Mike Seiler, Chester Priest, Rosemary Tutt, Rich Nickel and others…“Lissa Powell

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